MICHELLE SHOCKED
Threesome
Mighty Sound
· Singer-songwriter bookends a nasty relationship breakup with Disney show tunes and a Tex-Mex buffet.
Two years ago, Michelle Shocked shocked the audience at the Calgary folk fest with a level of raw emotion rarely seen anywhere. Reeling from a marriage breakdown, she stretched five songs into a 40-minute set and, at times, seemed dangerously close to coming apart right there on the Prince’s Island stage. I guess it’s a good thing she’s been keeping busy.
Threesome is a trilogy or triptych that packages the anticipated breakup record (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) with a disc of Disney classics (Got No Strings) and a modestly skewed disc of Latin-blues (Mexican Standoff). It gets full points for audacity and ambition, but it’s an odd trio. Shocked’s voice works pretty well on most of the Disney stuff, but overall the album seems cheesy and unnecessary. (Maybe it’s a bit like comfort food.) Sustaining that metaphor, Mexican Standoff might inspire some mild, musical indigestion. How do you say self-indulgent in Spanish?
For Shocked’s fans, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will not be a major disappointment.
While breakup albums can be riveting and powerful or embarrassingly dreadful, this one manages to be just pretty good. Contrary to the advance hype, this ain’t no Shoot Out the Lights. It also makes it difficult for campy critics to resist saying something way too obvious like: "After a decade long marriage ends, a Threesome often seems like a great idea. Unfortunately, the reality sometimes pales next to the fantasy." Or, at least, so I’ve heard.
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